Europa League Odds: Manchester United draw Barcelona in playoff

• Fallen giants of European football to meet in play-off
• Barcelona shorter than Man Utd in outright market

Barcelona are 5.59/2 and Manchester United are 8.415/2 in the Betfair Exchange Europa League winner market after the clubs were drawn together in the knockout phase playoffs.

Fans of both clubs will say it's a bigger game than any in the Champions League last-16.

Rivals will smirk at the spectacle of two fallen giants of European football playing a two-legged tie across 16 and 23 February for a place in the last-16 of the Thursday night cup.

Barca boast strong record over Reds

You have to go all the way back to 2008 for the last time United beat Barca - a 1-0 Champions League semi-final second-leg at Old Trafford.

The last time the teams played each other was in the Champions League quarter-finals in 2018 when Barca were 4-0 aggregate winners.

They met in the Champions League finals of 2009 and 2011. The La Liga side won both under the management of Pep Guardiola.

Cristiano Ronaldo played in the first of those finals and, during his nine years at Real Madrid, played in feisty Clasicos. Across his career, he has scored 20 goals against the Catalans, most recently a brace for Juventus in 2020.

He could relish the chance to face Barcelona and Casemiro (pictured below) who joined United from Real Madrid in the summer, also has plenty of experience of playing against the Camp Nou club.

February's tie will be a far cry from those heights, with the prize on offer a place in a round that already features eight teams including outright favourites Arsenal 5.04/1.

Whether Barcae or United go through, the winner will be one of the leading contenders to go all the way in the competition.

The knockout phase playoffs, which see the group stage runners-up take on those who finished third in their Champions League groups, also feature Juventus, who play Nantes, and Ajax who will meet Union Berlin.

Full draw

Barcelona v Manchester United

Juventus v Nantes

Sporting Lisbon v Midtjylland

Shakhtar Donetsk v Rennes

Ajax v Union Berlin

Bayer Leverkusen v Monaco

Sevilla v PSV Eindhoven

FC Salzburg v Roma